From the Shadows
by Bekkoni
Summary: A mysterious, secretive new meta joins the League. No one really trusts her, and soon Batman is ready to throw her out the nearest airlock. But could this hold more than it seems for the Dark Knight and the League? WARNING: This is my horribly bad first fanfic, kept up for archive purposes. Read at your own risk .
1. Chapter 1

Batman leapt from rooftop to rooftop, thinking. Something was off. Something he should have been able to place. His scowl deepened.

The Riddler. _That_ was it. He had escaped from Arkham, and Commissioner Gordon had gotten a note saying (cryptically, of course) that something big was planned for that night. But so far…nothing. Not a flash of the criminal's garish black and green suit.

From an alley below came a low moan. Batman swung down into the street. A dark figure was tied to a lamppost. His eyes widened when he saw that it was none other than his quarry.

The Riddler lifted his head. "My god," he said. "I…it was so strange. So fast."

He seemed almost incoherent, and was definitely not in the best of shape. His costume was torn in several places and there was a strange, thin burn on his left shoulder.

Batman pulled a batarang from his belt and sawed at the rope. Whatever the material was, it was strong. "Who captured you?" he asked.

"I don't know. It…" he trailed off, suddenly realizing who exactly he was talking to.

Batman sighed. Then he noticed something he hadn't before. A white feather had been shoved through Edward Nigma's cap. A large feather, extremely so. Large enough to be one of Sheyera's, only this was a pure white, not the cream of the Thangarian's wings.

He plucked it from the hat and out it in a special compartment of his cape. He had to go up to the watchtower later in the day, anyhow, so then he'd run it through the League genetic analyzer and see what the machine came up with.

Four hours later, Batman was entering the conference room. He was the last of the seven there, having spent extra time trying to coax the DNA machine into outputting something other than "inconclusive". So far, no luck.

" Hey, before we start," Flash said, "Anybody know where this thing came from?" He took something out from under his chair. It was a feather, nearly identical to the one Batman had found.

"I was patrolling last night, just running around like usual, ya know? And then guess who I came across? Captain Boomerang! Tied up like shoelaces with this stuck through his shirt!"

"I haven't heard of any other of my kind on Earth," Sheyera said, carefully taking it from Flash. "And the shape is wrong . This is wider and tapers more gradually than mine."

"I've seen something like it," Batman broke in. Everyone stopped talking. "Nearly identical, in fact." He removed the feather he found from his cape. "Whoever left this captured the Riddler."

"A calling card, then," Superman said. "A new meta, maybe, too shy to show themselves."

"We have to figure out where these came from," Batman compared the two feathers.

"Why? It seems they're only helping us."

"I like to know what's going on in _my_ city."

"I don't see what harm there would be in letting this go, Bruce," Wonder Woman ran a hand through her hair. "At least until we have more evidence."

Batman's eyes narrowed, but he only said, "Fine. We'll let this play out. _For now_."


	2. Revelations

Eleven more feathers showed up in the next two weeks. They all followed the same pattern: a Leaguer would be patrolling their city and then suddenly come across a villain, disabled and babbling about monsters in the dark. But not a single person could say who, or what exactly was behind the phenomenon.

"Doing that sixteen zillion times won't change anything, Bats," Flash appeared next to Batman in one of the science labs.

"There has to be something here," Batman snarled as he put another of the feathers under a microscope for what indeed felt like the sixteen zillionth time.

"I don't get why you care so much," Flash was munching on a Hershey bar. "I mean, they're doing our work! Sounds good to me."

Batman was about to growl some scathing reply, when both his and Flash's communicators activated.

"Batman, Flash and Captain Atom, you're needed for a mission," Jonzz's voice poured into their ears. "There's a crisis in New York City."

"On our way," the pair dashed out of the room.

The mission was going badly. Four villains, Weather Wizard, Shade, Star Sapphire, and a new one called AuTo, who could control machines, had teamed up and were wreaking havoc.

Captain Atom blasted a robot composed of toaster with a stream of nuclear energy. Two more leapt at him from behind and dragged him down.

Flash zipped around, trying to avoid bolts of lightning and tornados. He looked back and stuck his tongue out at Wizard. It was a mistake. Shade stepped in front of him and caught the hero in a net of black.

One of AuTo's robots caught Batman and threw him towards the brick wall of a bank. He twisted himself around and landed on his feet, but Sapphire shot a line of her signature pink energy at him and he was barely able to dodge it.

The robot grabbed him again, this time enlisting another to hold him while it started up a saw on the end of it's hand and brought it closer and closer to the Dark Knight.

Batman twisted and turned, but the metal claws were completely unyielding. He lashed out with his feet and kicked the other, but it merely swatted at him and kept coming with the saw.

_Zzzzt!_ Something smashed through the robot's titanium skull instants before it sliced Batman's head off. It looked like there was a staff of blue light protruding from the destroyed circuitry. His eyes followed it up to it's owner.

He actually twitched when he saw the person.

_Well, _he thought, _Once this mess is dealt with, I might get a few questions answered. _


	3. It's Not Polite to Ask a Lady Her Weight

He glanced over the computer screen.

ALIAS: Angel

HEIGHT: 5' 5"

WEIGHT: -

POWERS: Telepath, projects "staffs" of energy capable o burning; can vary intensity of such projection, flight (wings)

"Please step on the scale," J'onn told the new recruit.

_Don't you know that it's impolite to ask a lady her weight? _ Across the room, Batman's head jerked up and he scowled. He'd never gotten used to telepaths beaming words into his head, and this new one was no exception.

"Could you talk to J'onn and no one else?" he snapped as he entered more information into her file.

_Sure! It'll be like a little club. _Even in his mind, the icy sarcasm from that response could have curdled milk.

Batman sighed and went on to the next category.

COSTUME: Gray, ankle length cloak with hood over black pants, boots, shirt. Face is concealed via a telepathic "blinding" of the people around her to her features, therefore it appears as only blackness (unfortunately, she is able to keep up only one such illusion at a time).

"We need  to get your weight, Angel," J'onn thrust a finger towards the scale.

_No, you don't_.

"GET on the SCALE. NOW." Batman said, giving her his best bat-glare.

_Or you'll what?_ she asked, mocking, _Throw one of your toys at me?_

In response, Batman pulled a batarang and stun grenade from his belt.

"Oh no, you don't," J'onn tried to get between them.

Angel slashed out with one of her staffs, melting the top of his batarang. _Oops._ That did it. He lunged at her, swinging out with his left leg in a karate roundkick.

To his surprise she flipped backward in a perfect feat of gymnastics. _You didn't think I was a one trick pony, now did you?_

J'onn just got out of the way.

"Kick her out."

"Bruce…"

"That woman is a liability, not to mention an insufferable jerk."

"You're the one who attacked her," Superman said. "Honestly. If I hadn't come in to see how it was going, this whole med bay would have been reduced to splinters of wood. You two were fighting each other like you were mortal enemies. Usually, you wait at least an hour before throwing someone into a wall."

"How long did it take you to convince her to come up here?" Batman asked. "Three hours? And would you please tell GL that he can stop it with the handcuffs?"

"I don't think he's going to do anything," Superman said to Green Lantern, who turned off the pair of green handcuffs that had been restraining Batman.

"Those weren't necessary in the first place," Batman said, rubbing his wrists.

"Bruce, you growled at me when I first came in," Clark exclaimed. "_Growled."_

"How's that unusual?" GL muttered under his breath.

Batman glared at them both. "There's nothing I can do about her now," he said "But mark my words—you're going to be sorry you ever invited her to the League."

And he walked out the doors.


	4. mission 1

It was supposed to have been an easy mission, but then these things never go quite as planned. Or so Aquaman told himself as he held up his hand to shade his eyes from the sun and stared at the army of things in front of him.

"Not time for sightseeing," Batman snapped as he flew past on one of those line things of his. "We have to stop those…uh…whatever they are."

The things in question were five-foot tall, hulking creations of seaweed, mud, and mashed-up, rotting bits. They didn't seem intelligent; all they were doing was crashing into buildings and cars without any sort of direction or motive except for mindless destruction.

"Angel," Batman said over the comlink, "Can you pick up anything from them?"

_Not yet, let me set my brain to the right frequency,_ she replied, _God, I'm not a radio! But no, they're not intelligent, if that's what you mean._

"Yes," Batman snarled, temper flaring, "That is what I meant."

Green Arrow vaulted over some wreckage and sent an electrocute-arrow towards one of the things. It flew into its back and fizzled out in the muck.

"Well," the archer snorted. "That did zilch."

"Try something else," Batman said. "Aquaman, see if there's something controlling them. Arrow, you and me will find a way to disable them. Angel, you're on crowd control. Get those people a safe distance away."

Angel dove and scooped up a mother and her child, depositing them a quarter mile downtown. She went back and forth, trafficking people away from the chaos. _I_

"Sunlight," Aquaman said from her comlink. "If we expose them to enough heat or sun, they'll dry up and crumble."

_I'll get on it,_ Angel said.

"No!" Batman cut in as he swung down to a lighting store on the street and broke through the door. "You keep doing what you're doing. We'll handle this."

Green Arrow and Aquaman looked at each other and shrugged, simultaneously wondering what in the heck was up with Bats and the new girl.

Inside the hardware store, Batman took three heat lamps, nine 500 watt light bulbs, and a thousand feet of electrical wires. He pulled some of the plastic coatings off the wires and hooked all the mechanisms together. He hoped that they'd get enough power to fry those things before the circuit blew.

Batman dragged his contraption out of the store. "We need to get this on top of a rooftop, for more leverage. Arrow, Aquaman, give me a hand."

_No need. _ Angel flew down, plucked the device from Batman's arms, and carried it up 100 ft. Flicking the on switch, she let a flash of brilliant, hot light saturate the street, and shut it off.

The mud creatures were immobile. Their skin dried and soon their mucky insides followed. They crumbed to piles of dust.

Batman, Aquaman, Green arrow, and everyone on the street rubbed their eyes and tried to blink away the sunbursts.

Angel drifted to the ground and let the contraption fall to the ground. _That thing's heavy._

"WHAT do you think you were DOING?" Batman yelled. The other three jumped. Green Arrow and Aquaman took a few steps back.

_Stopping those things, duh._

Arrow and Aquaman took a few more steps back.  No one talked to Batman like that. Not if they wanted to live.

"You disobeyed my direct order."

_Get over yourself, Bats. I got that done ten minutes faster than you three could have._

"That's not the point! What if because you were playing Supergirl someone got hurt?" he was getting in her face, but all Angel did was tilt her head away a little.

_But they didn't._

"Look," he snarled, "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you're here because Superman likes to take in charity cases and try to make them into heroes. Well, if you want to be a hero, then you'd better start acting like one."

It was then that the transport beam brought them back to the watchtower.

**A/N: Next chapter we learn a few things, including more about Angel and that Batman can be bribed with chocolate-chip cookies.**


	5. What We're Not

Batman looked through the mission reports Green Lantern had given him and sighed. There was way too many of them. And to put the cherry on top of a bad day, John had made him come to the cafeteria to pick up the reports.

Batman hated the cafeteria. It was too bright, too social, and he was generally ignored the few times he'd gone there to get lunch out of desperation.

Just as he was about to leave, some one grabbed his arm and yanked him into a chair at a table in one of the alcoves. It was Angel.

"What do you want?" he groaned. This could not get any worse.

_Here,_ she offered him a napkin-wrapped chocolate-chip cookie.

"I don't eat cookies," he said, pushing it away, "And I don't have time for this."

_The stash of frozen Tollhouse cookie dough in your lab says differently, _ she replied. _ And I'm not trying to be nice or whatever, this is a bribe for you to stay here for five minutes._

Batman just looked at her. He was kina hungry… "Oh, fine," he took a bite of the cookie.

_It's not true; what you said yesterday._

"What isn't?"

_The hero thing. We're not heroes. _

"Who's we?"

Across the room, Flash looked over and saw an extremely odd sight—Batman sitting in the cafeteria and talking to a person who was, according to Superman, hi mortal enemy. _Huh,_ he thought, and went back to his hot dog.

_ You and I, _ Angel said. _If you want a hero, there's Superman with his patriot act, and Flash, with his bad jokes, and Wonder Woman with her Girl scout role model of the year certificates._

"What does that make us, then?" Batman asked.

_The people who get things done,_ she said. He wished he could see her face at that moment, to see if she was sincere. _Regardless of what it takes. Think about that._


	6. Identity

"Hey, Bats," Flash said, zipping up to his black—clad teammate, "Was that you I saw hanging out with Angel in the cafeteria yesterday?"

"I don't "hang out" and I don't socialize with Angel," Batman replied, speeding up a bit, though he knew it would be of no use.

"Suuure…"

"What are you insinuating?" Batman glared at him.

"Bats, I don't even know what that word means," Flash disappeared in a burst of wind.

Above Batman, the loudspeakers crackled to life, "Will the following members please report to the transport pad—Mission Leader Capitan Atom, Supergirl, Batman and…"

_Not her,_ he thought, _please not-_

"And Angel."

Batman swore under his breath.

New York was being attacked by a giant robot. It towered three stories high and glowed with nuclear energy.

_There certainly have been a lot of mindless attacking things lately,_ Angel said with he usual edge of sarcasm. _Don't you people ever fight real villains?_

"Don't you ever talk?" Supergirl asked with equal edge.

The robot spotted them and slammed a hand into their group. Batman launched a grappling hook and swung out of the way. On the way up he tossed an exploding batarang into the robot's eye. It blew out a couple of the glass panels, and the robot recoiled.

But then the panels grew back.

Angle flew at it. Two staffs appeared in her hands. They crackled with electricity; she'd turned up her powers to full strength.

The robot saw her coming and swatted her away with one hand. She crashed through the roof of the _New York Times_ printing and distributing building.

Supergirl smashed off half the robot's face, and Cpt. Atom let loose a wave of enery that melted the circuitry underneath. Unfortunately, it grew back.

_I…need…a hand_ Angel's voice burst into their minds.

"I'll help her!" Batman said, more because he didn't seem to be doing much good there than because he wanted to help her.

Angel's cloak was caught in one of the printing machines, nearly ripping her head off. She struggled and twisted, but couldn't use her staffs for fear of burning herself. The rollers sucked in her cloak.

Batman got out one of his batarangs and went to cut the fabric when there was a small ping sound, and the clasp that closed her hood snapped, completely ripping off her cloak.

Angel stared at him, and brought up her hands to cover part of her face. But it was too late.

His jaw dropped. Not because it was unusual for a leaguer's identity to be revealed (usually he already knew it). That he could have taken in stride. But, no.

It was because he recognized her.


	7. I Know

_Oh my god, _Angel said, _You know who I _am.

Batman turned away from her and cut away the metal of the roller that had caught her cape. "You can't project the illusion without your hood?" he asked, trying to think of something to say. "Or is there a device in here and it has nothing to do with your powers?"

_I have to have something to frame it around, _there was a tone to her voice, a razor edge that Batman recognized as what had tinted his own after Superman had learned his secret identity.

_You know who I am, _ she repeated.

"Well," Batman said, self-consciously putting the batarang back in his belt. "Now we're even."

_I don't know who you are._

This surprised him. "But… J'onn did. He read it from our minds."

_He's a Martian, and he's different, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. If I tried to go that deep into your head, with all the mental walls you have, I'd lose myself._

From outside the factory came Supergirl's cheer, "We got him!"

Batman couldn't stop thinking about her face. _It couldn't be,_ he thought. But the person he had seen was undoubtedly Bekka Hallison.

She was a reporter who had interviewed Bruce Wayne once, a few months ago, about the new waterfront project. A very perky, happy, reporter. Nauseatingly so. There was no way this could be her.

_No, _ Angel said a bit sadly. _It is._

Mentally, Batman smacked himself in the head for forgetting the telepath thing.

_If you know who I am, _Angel said thoughtfully. _But you're not someone I work with, then you're someone I interviewed._

Batman stiffened.

_Gotham city. That's Harvey Dent, Linda Walters, James Gordon, Mayor Polinski, Bruce Wayne, Renee Trevor and that judge guy. _Angel looked over at him. _Gordon's too old, the judge was black. Renee's female. Dent is crazy. That leaves the mayor and the playboy._

"We're done," Captain Atom's voice rang over the comlink. "Is angel in satisfactory condition?"

"On minute," Batman snapped, "We'll be right there."

Angel chuckled. It was the first verbal sound he'd heard her make. _You're Bruce Wayne._ She laughed again, darkly.


	8. Bekka

**A/N: This is just a short chapter, getting into Angel's head.**

She had to meet the princess of Kasnia in an hour and a half, and still Angel was not yet Bekka.

_You have to get over this_, she told herself sternly. _It's just another part to play._

There were too many roles. Bekka, the flirt, the sweet girl. Angel, the mysterious one, the bitch. Too bad neither one was her. On her darkest days, Bekka thought it would be easier to simply be no one at all.

Next door, Mr. McGuinn was considering a third beer. His wife had left two days ago and still he hadn't noticed. Angel had. She'd felt the woman's heart break as it was pulled in two different directions—freedom or a love that might not be lost.

Bekka shook her head. Some days it as harder to keep out other's thoughts. She wondered if the Martian had this problem.

The newspaper was lying on the vanity in front of her. There was a picture of Bruce Wayne on the second page. Angel _tsked_. So much news about a man who didn't exist, not truly.

Now there was someone who might understand her more. Gotham was a dark city, darker than New York, where she lived, and there were more freaks, but _he_ must see something worth saving.

Bekka sighed and slipped back into character. With a brush of cherry red lipstick and a few practice smiles, the Sweet Girl was back in control.

For now.


	9. Mindgames

**A/N: The longest chapter so far! **

"You seem distracted," Diana said to him as they walked together to the founding members weekly meeting.

"Hmm?" Batman had thinking about Angel. He still had to yell at Cpt. Atom for transporting them up before she had finished her sentence, and then on top of that transporting him to Gotham and her to New York.

"See?"

"Oh, sorry," the other five were already waiting for them.

"Hey," Flash said, stuffing a doughnut into his mouth.

Superman looked up from some paperwork and nodded.

"First on the agenda," GL absently scratched his nose. "There have been three, um, 'concerns' raised about Angel's conduct."

"Not her again," Flash moaned. "She's been here what, two weeks? I say we should just fire Paranoid Skitzo Girl and be done with it."

"I agree," Shyera rubbed the handle of her mace. "I was on one mission with her and I was this close to strangling her."

Superman sighed. "It's regretful, but…"

"No."

Everyone looked at Batman.

"No?!" GL asked incredulously . "You tried to kill her thirteen days ago."

"Yeah," Bruce shrugged. "But she gets the job done.

"No matter what."

Ten seconds after he realized he had quoted her.

***

"We need to talk."

_I was wondering when you would show up_. Angel didn't turn around to look at him. _You didn't need to pick the lock. I would have let you in._

"The attitude's been taken down," Batman noticed. She hadn't done much with the room they'd assigned her other than changing the password and leaving two red roses on the counter.

_Don't flatter yourself._ _There's no point in keeping up an act when it's unnecessary. _

"You're still not acting like Bekka, though," this had been bothering him for two days. "So which are you?"

_Bruce Wayne doesn't exist._

"You didn't answer my question."

_And neither does Batman._

He stayed silent.

_Oh, don't go all defensive. No one goes around growling all the time, and I __know__ you don't think like a paranoid creep who lives in the shadows._ Angel pulled open the dishwasher and began emptying it. _ So which are you? Truly, now. _

"Neither."

_Exactly. _

Suddenly she dropped the fork she was holding and brought her hand up to her temple.

"Are you okay?"

_Fine._ She snapped.

"Truly, now."

_Your mind is driving me crazy._

Batman reached down and picked up the utensil for her, carefully placing it in the drawer. "I'd say I drive a lot of people crazy, but I don't think that's it."

_Now that I know you're Bruce Wayne, it's like I can't see all these things I couldn't before, and when you get close I can't stop them from leaking in._

"I'm invading your mind?"

_Most of the other leaguers—or people for that matter—don't have barriers protecting everything in their heads. Now that I've gotten through one, all that stuff is flooding in._

"What do you see?" Batman tried not to snarl.

_A broken pearl necklace lying on cement. I can hear someone laughing, and there's a woman in a wheelchair covering her ears like it hurts her. Two boys—both dark haired. _ She stopped. _ I'm trying not to let it in. You'd hate that._

"Does it hurt?"

Angel shook her head wearily. _It's just tiring. _

He could see the white lie.

"So you know everything about everyone but me?"

_Mostly._ She winced again and rifled through a cabinet for a bottle of ibuprofen. When she found it she took two.

"If I did let you in, would you see all that's in my head?"

_Just bits and pieces—the overflow._

"Okay."Batman said. He didn't know what he was agreeing to.


	10. Trouble Brews

"What did you see?" he snapped, immediately after it was over, wondering what in hell had made him agree to that.

_Not much more. _ Angel yawned._ I wouldn't have taken those aspirins if I'd known you were going to say yes_.

"So you didn't make me do that?!"

_Mind control isn't one of my powers…why…_

He had vanished.

***

"Batman, mission," Superman's voice was tinny over the comlink.

"Is Angel going? I'm not, then. You'd better not put her on one with-" Why had he done that? Was he really that stupid? Maybe he should ask J'onn for a mental screening. No. Too weird.

"Um, nooo…did you, like, drink three energy drinks in a row again, or something?"

"You're never going to let me live that down."

"Bruce, you were vibrating."

"It was THREE years ago! You don't do this to Flash!"

"He's hyper naturally."

"Look, just give me the transport coordinates."

"Fine," somewhere in the background, there was an explosion. Batman rolled his eyes and wondered what in the heck Kent was doing chatting when there were lives to be saved. "Just go to the smack-middle of Memphis. GL and I are already there, but-"

"Kent?"

The line was dead.

Batman swore and started down the hall for the transporter bay. What now?


	11. Trees Attack

The twisted mess of trees and greenery towered over the skyscrapers. Its limbs swayed ad turned, like brown worms through the air. At its center, Superman and Vixen we held in a prison of roots. Both were unconscious.

Batman had truly never seen anything like it. He took a mental note to collect a sample for study after he destroyed the thing.

A woman in a white lab coat came running up to the Javelin.

"Oh, thank God," she gasped. "The Justice League."

When she saw who was emerging from the cockpit, though, she took two steps back.

"They didn't send anyone more powerful? Not that I'm not grateful, but..."

"The sooner you tell me how to stop this thing, the sooner I can take it down," He _hated_ when people did that.

The woman handed over a white cylinder with two buttons on it. "That is a creature spliced from some of the Dark Heart nanotechnology and white pine DNA," she saw the look on his face and winced. "Really, all we were trying to do was help the species . Not create…that. Really, we thought we were only taking the self-preservation algorithms."

"You shouldn't have screwed with that mess."

"Well, it's too late for that," she snapped. "That device is a high yield explosive specially designed to disable the Heart material. You have to plant it right through that eye up there." She pointed to a dark area near the top. "Because of their meta powers, your friends will be fine. You have ninety-seven seconds after activation to get the hell out of their or you'll be caught in the blast."

Batman was gone.

"Damn," the woman said, "I hate when they do that."

Batman climbed up through the twigs and bark. He'd planted exploding batarangs all over the creature to distract it as he got higher and closer to the eye. There was only twenty more feet to go, but he didn't dare use a grappling hook, the plant would sense the synthetic material instantly. Bad enough he was wearing Kevlar.

The eye was right in front of him now. He hit the two button simultaneously, starting the countdown. Ninety-seven… ninety-eight…the explosive flew perfectly into the eye.

The tree roared a swiped off the annoying bug. Batman plummeted down, reaching for a line. The tree-thing swiped and hit him across the chest, cracking a rib. He pulled out his last three exploding batarangs, and an electric shock one and tossed them towards some new growth.

He had sixty-four seconds to get far enough away. He wasted seven more getting out a line and shooting it at a building. The tree saw it and severed it.

Fifty-two seconds.

A branch caught him and pulled him in, closer to the gnashing mouth. He hacked free, and again tried to get a grapple.

Forty-six seconds.

A vine lashed at Batman's ankle, narrowly missing. He reached a ledge on a building, but that was only fifty feet away, he had to get out, quick. Sharpness stabbed into his side where the broken rib was.

Thirty-five seconds.

Down below, something yellow caught his eye. A little girl, trapped in a car. Inside the blast zone. He dropped down. She was yanking on her seat belt, unable to click it open. He smashed the window.

Twenty-three seconds.

One swipe, he cut the nylon strap. The girl screamed at the black monster trying to grab her. Batman pulled her from the car. The tree thing smashed a limb into the car instants afterward. They tumbled into the sink hole.

Fifteen seconds.

Batman checked his belt. No lines left. It would take too long to climb out. All he had was an experimental short-distance transport device he and Robin had been working on. It wasn't even a beta version, more like a sloppy prototype.

Nine seconds.

The device could only transport things weighing under ninety pounds. No use to him. Batman looked down at the little girl and clipped it to her collar. He set the distance to one mile south, where the emergency vehicles were thickest. They'd be able to find her parents. With a click of a button, the girl, still struggling, vanished.

_Boom._


	12. The Day After

Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Sheyera Hul and J'onn J'ozz stood in solemn silence around the hole. They heard the stone hit the earth below, then Superman and GL shoveled the dirt back in. A small marker was laid on top of the fresh ground, a date and a line of words chisled into the smooth surface of the granite.

They all stepped back and looked down on their handiwork.

"Would anyone like to say a few words?" Flash asked.

GL laughed. "Jeez, this isn't a _funeral_ , Flash."

"Well it kinda feels like it. We're burying the last of the Dark Heart-plant-thing material and all," Flash zoomed around the graveyard a couple times between blinks. "Now at least Bats'll get off our case about it."

"Ah, yes, Batman," Diana swept aside a lock of her black hair. "How is he, Clark?"

"I've been waiting to talk to him until I'm sure I'm not going to strangle him for being an idiot," Superman shook his head. "Would it have killed him to wait for someone who could do that without getting potentially killed?"

"I saw him," Sheyera said. "He was fighting a medic."

"Oh, what now?" Superman groaned. They started walking back to the Javelin.

"She was trying to make him use a sling. Apparently he hurt his arm in the explosion."

"Of course," Clark sighed.

_You idiot,_ The voice very rudely interrupted Batman as he finished filling out the last of yesterday's mission forms.

He glanced up. "Excuse me if I'm not crushed, but I've been called a lot worse things than idiot by a lot worse people than you."

He was sitting in one of the Watchtower's computer rooms, on monitor duty.

_You could have just called a meta._ Angel was perched on a counter on one side of the room.

"I thought you agreed not to read my mind."

_Actually, I heard that from Superman. But seriously, don't you think that was really stupid? And you tore the muscles in your shoulder. You should have it in a sling._

"Why the sudden concern for my wellbeing? I've been doing this much longer than you, and haven't died once yet. Superman can't say the same."

She reached over, very quickly, and kissed him.

He pushed her away. "What the hell was THAT?"

Angel just looked at him for a minute, and then to somewhere over his shoulder. He turned around to see where she was looking, and when he turned back, she was gone.

_Damn, I shouldn't fall for my own tricks, _he thought, silently debating whether to go after her.

**A/N remember, the review button is your friend!**


	13. Now There's More

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Justice League or any of the affiliated terms and characters. If I did, I would have better computer. **

"There are only three maps here, Bruce," Superman said. "We need four, remember?"

Batman hated these weekly meetings. "Yes I remembered. I have it…" He unfolded the three maps of Guatemala, looking for the four that he was sure was just stuck inside one of them. "Just not here."

"Of course," Flash said through a mouthful of banana. "Leaving it somewhere else totally shows you remembered it."

Batman growled at him. "I left in the lab. I'll be right back." He strode from the conference room, and down the halls until her reached his lab. He unlocked the door and found the fourth map lying on a table.

_Damn, _the thought. _What was I so preoccupied about?_

_Oh. Yeah. _

He pushed the worry of what in the world he would do about Angel to the back of his mind and headed back to the conference room.

"Didn't you hear the announcement?" GL asked when Batman got back and threw the map down on the table.

"Uh, no."

"There's a mission. Diana already went do to the transporters."

"Just out of curiosity," Batman said, "Who else got called?"

"The Atom and Angel," Superman replied. "We still haven't figured out what to do about her yet."

Inwardly, Batman groaned.

The mission wasn't hard. A group of dog-sized robots had escaped from a laboratory. There seemed to be a lot of that going around lately. They all disabled a couple, and the mission was finished without much trouble.

Angel never even glanced his way. He found this more disturbing than if she had watched him the entire time, although split personality might explain something about her.

After they had been transported back to the watchtower, Batman followed her down a hallway. They walked further back, to the team quarters. He didn't usually come back here. He never slept in the watchtower unless it was vital.

When Angel stopped to punch in the code for her door, he grabbed her arm. "We need to talk."

_Did you like it? _She asked.

"I don't know what you mean."

_Did you, _she asked once more. _Like it?_

He didn't say anything.

_Find the answer, then we'll talk. _She slid through the door and it closed behind her, locking him out.

Batman looked at the closed door for awhile and then walked back down the hall to the transporters. It was almost time to start patrol in Gotham.

**A/N: Again, please review, review, review! Flames welcome. Also, here's and informal poll: **_**Did**_** he like it, or not? **


	14. Decisions

**A/N: This may sound strange, but listen to 'Violet Hill' by coldplay while reading this (go to , you can listen for free). I think it sounds like Gotham City, if that makes any sense. Oh, and this isn't the last chapter.**

It had taken Batman four days to make up his mind. It miay have been sooner, but the Joker escaped from Arkham (again) and when you're battling the Joker, it is death to think of anything else.

He'd decided yes.

And whenever he turned, he kept seeing Diana. It was driving him mad. The one person who could make him change his mind, and she was _everywhere._ He'd considered once, after the mission to Gorilla City, telling her how he felt.

Then she come to Gotham, watched him fight in his town. He had seen the disappointment on her face when she watched him break a man's hand, break it bad enough where he wouldn't be able to hold a gun for a long, long time. She didn't understand how many people this man had killed. How many parents he'd murdered while their frightened children hid in bedrooms.

She didn't understand, and that's why it would never work. If she learned to understand, she would lose what was Diana about her, and he would never let that happen. He'd rather stay just friends than love her and have to live through her watching him with those same disappointed eyes after it all fell apart.

Angel was better. She wasn't an innocent. And she would understand. He wasn't sure if this was because she could see what was within men's minds or because she knew what was within her own.

And he might love her, too.

With that last thought in mind, Batman got up from the Batcave computer and transported up to the watchtower.

He checked the mission listings quickly. She'd left two hours ago, with Superman, Hawkgirl (he still couldn't get used to calling her Shyera), and Flash. Three founding members. They were trying to keep an eye on her.

Kansas City, the listing said, and something about radioactive spiders. _Well, that shouldn't take too much longer._

He went to the cafeteria and got a cup of coffee, and stood in the gardens to watch. No sense standing right by the transporter, someone might ask him who he was waiting for, and he didn't know if he could lie.

So he stood and waited and drank all of the black coffee. And waited a little more. Then two blue shimmers appeared on the transporter pad. He ran (but not _too_ quickly) up the garden stairs. When he got to the top, only Clark and Shyera were there.

Clark was leaning back against a wall, rubbing his temples. He had this dark, dark expression on his face.

"Kryptonite?" Batman asked. "Or did someone die or something?"

Superman just looked at him.

Batman glanced toward the transporter again. He hoped Wally was okay. Or at least hurt just enough to knock some sense into him.

A third blue shape appeared.

"Yes," Superman said quietly, before Batman could see who was transporting up. "Angel."


	15. Reaction

**A/N: This may sound strange, but listen to 'Violet Hill' by coldplay while reading this (go to , you can listen for free). I think it sounds like Gotham City, if that makes any sense. Oh, and this isn't the last chapter.**

It had taken Batman four days to make up his mind. It miay have been sooner, but the Joker escaped from Arkham (again) and when you're battling the Joker, it is death to think of anything else.

He'd decided yes.

And whenever he turned, he kept seeing Diana. It was driving him mad. The one person who could make him change his mind, and she was _everywhere._ He'd considered once, after the mission to Gorilla City, telling her how he felt.

Then she come to Gotham, watched him fight in his town. He had seen the disappointment on her face when she watched him break a man's hand, break it bad enough where he wouldn't be able to hold a gun for a long, long time. She didn't understand how many people this man had killed. How many parents he'd murdered while their frightened children hid in bedrooms.

She didn't understand, and that's why it would never work. If she learned to understand, she would lose what was Diana about her, and he would never let that happen. He'd rather stay just friends than love her and have to live through her watching him with those same disappointed eyes after it all fell apart.

Angel was better. She wasn't an innocent. And she would understand. He wasn't sure if this was because she could see what was within men's minds or because she knew what was within her own.

And he might love her, too.

With that last thought in mind, Batman got up from the Batcave computer and transported up to the watchtower.

He checked the mission listings quickly. She'd left two hours ago, with Superman, Hawkgirl (he still couldn't get used to calling her Shyera), and Flash. Three founding members. They were trying to keep an eye on her.

Kansas City, the listing said, and something about radioactive spiders. _Well, that shouldn't take too much longer._

He went to the cafeteria and got a cup of coffee, and stood in the gardens to watch. No sense standing right by the transporter, someone might ask him who he was waiting for, and he didn't know if he could lie.

So he stood and waited and drank all of the black coffee. And waited a little more. Then two blue shimmers appeared on the transporter pad. He ran (but not _too_ quickly) up the garden stairs. When he got to the top, only Clark and Shyera were there.

Clark was leaning back against a wall, rubbing his temples. He had this dark, dark expression on his face.

"Kryptonite?" Batman asked. "Or did someone die or something?"

Superman just looked at him.

Batman glanced toward the transporter again. He hoped Wally was okay. Or at least hurt just enough to knock some sense into him.

A third blue shape appeared.

"Yes," Superman said quietly, before Batman could see who was transporting up. "Angel."


	16. Back

**Sorry for the delay—I'm working on a (non-fanfic) novel as well right now, and so that's taking the lion's share of my time. This chapter is pretty long though, so I hope it's worth it. :)**

************************************************

ONE WEEK LATER

"Are you okay?" Diana asked, before the others arrived at the conference room for the weekly meeting. "You've been very...snappish lately."

"I'm fine," Batman snarled.

"No, she's right, Bruce," Superman walked into the room, carrying a stack of mission reports.

"I'm sure Ma Kent would tell you that eavesdropping is an evil habit."

Superman sighed. "Best to just let him go, Diana. He won't tell us anything unless he wants to."

GL, Flash, and Shayera arrived next, all together, and J'onn came last. They took their spots, and John pulled out the meeting's agenda.

"Item one," he said, "Angel's funeral."

Everyone sucked in a breath.

"She never put her home location on file. Or fingerprints," J'onn said. "There's no way to know who she was."

"Well, Batman?" Superman said. "Are you going to tell us her name?"

"Why do you think I know what her name was?" Bruce said. "What do you think I was doing?! What have you been…"

"Calm down!" Superman scooted a little bit away from him. "I just meant that you usually make it your business to find these things out. I apologize if that offended you in some way."

The others exchanged looks that clearly meant _What in the world is wrong with Bats?_

"No," Batman said sharply. "I don't know her name."

Just then, a red light on the wall began flashing. All of their comlinks activated. Someone was transmitting an emergency signal.

"You had better get down to the monitor room," Mr. Terrific came on over the speaker. "You're not going to believe what is coming through the feed."

All seven ran down to the monitor room. On all the screens the same message was playing, over and over.

**Grodd taken over United Nations**

**All leaders under his command.**

**Set comlinks to frequency 64-7: makes you immune**

****Angel****

"She faked her death," Batman said. "She's alive."

"And Grodd has taken over the UN," Flash said. "I'd say that's more of a "Big Thing" than Angel."

"Of course."

*******************************

The UN representatives stood facing the Justice League, pointing various rifles, guns, and shiny sharp objects at the heroes.

"Grodd shall prevail," they said in one voice. "Grodd shall conquer."

Batman tied his comlink into a megaphone thorough a modified pair of wireless earbuds. He had, at most, forty seconds before the started shooting, and the Kasnia representative's weapon looked like a kryptonite pistol.

"Sure this will work?" Gl asked.

"Shut up. I need to work."

There was a click as one rifle was readied to fire. With a furious gorilla war cry, the members of the UN charged. Batman flipped a switch on his device. And ear-piercing shriek cut through the air.

The UN members dropped like flies.

"That just shattered Grodd's mental connection," J'onn said. "I can sense it."

_Thank god_ one of the security guards, who had also supposedly been under Grodd's thrall, took off her wig and uniform to reveal Angel's costume.

"We disabled Grodd," Flash said over the comlink. "He's all locked up in this cute little cage ready to go to the zoo."

"That is an insult," Grodd's voice filtered through from the background. "I am not an animal."

****************************

The Leaguers seated themselves in the Javelin. Grodd was locked up in the cargo hold. Batman took a seat at the very back. Angel sat across the aisle from him.

He wouldn't even look at her. She tried to go into his mind telepathically to try to communicate, but there was a wall of mental granite and steel blocking her at every turn.

Angel reached out and touched him on the shoulder. He turned to her, finally.

"Get your damn hand off me," Batman snapped and moved up three seats.


	17. Things to come OR i suck at titles

"Do you have any IDEA how LONG it will take me to fix this?!" Batman roared at Booster Gold. "For once, could you imbeciles please not mess around with the computers?!"

Booster very carefully took two steps back and then turned around and ran out the door of the monitor room, slamming into Superman.

"Supes!" he exclaimed. "You gotta talk to Bats…I swear he's going to kill me! And I didn't break it! Honest!"

Superman blinked four times as Booster sped away, and then walked into the room.

"Bruce…"

"WHAT?"

"Look," Clark began, "I don't know what's up with you. I thought it was the whole Angel's Death thing at first…but whatever it is, you can't take it out on other people. Especially hyperactive ones."

"Go leap a tall building or something," Batman unscrewed a panel on the computer. "I've got better things to do than be mothered by you."

Clark sighed and walked out.

_He's right, you know._

"I have nothing to say to you. Get out."

_Can't you at least tell me why your so pissed at me? If you do I promise I'll leave you alone forever._

"I'd prefer if you left now."

Angel appeared next to him. _You're blocking me out again._

"That was a one-time deal."

_I know you're not angry at me for kissing you, _she said, _ And you can't still be mad about that mission where I went against your orders…_

_So you have to be mad at me for dying._

"I don't know how you arrived at that conclusion. It is not a logical reaction," Batman gripped his pliers so hard it snapped the wire he was trying to repair.

Angel stood on the other side of the hard drive so they were face to face. _You were upset about it, weren't you? _

"I don't know what you're talking about."

_You were upset when you thought I died, and that's why you're mad at me. Because it hurt you._

"Sadness is a normal reaction to death," he said stiffly, "I don't know why you think I would have an extremely adverse reaction to it."

_Because this whole Batman-persona you've built up is centered around the idea that feeling nothing gives you more power. And I cracked your armor._

"You should know that I hate it when people try to psycho-analyze me," Batman twisted on a new length of copper wiring. "Especially people who barely know me."

_Do you honestly not want to try? _Angel asked. _Do you honestly not like me?_

Batman continued repairing the computer silently.

She came over to his side of the machine and put her arms around him.

He tried very, very hard not to react.

Angel kissed him again, and this time he didn't try to push her away.

***************************************

**That's it! This story is officially written. It took me much longer than I thought it would, and many more chapters, but I hope it's a pretty good result. **

**If I get a good response to this chapter, there might be one more coming, either about there first official out-of-costume date, or one where either Superman or Flash begins to suspect something's up. If neither of those happen, Angel is going to be in my next fics (even if that chapter does happen she'll be in them). **

**So—review, review! Especially, tell me if you liked or didn't like Angel. If most people didn't I'll kill her off again.**


	18. ATTN

**Author's Note: **

**To anyone interested:**

**I (finally) got around to writing the sequel to this story. It's posted in the same category and is called "Out of Sight". It hopefully won't be 17 chapters, but the chapters will be longer (that was something I was working on).**


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